Kherson

Kherson
Херсон
St. Catherine's Cathedral, 1780s

Coat of arms
Map of Ukraine with Kherson highlighted.
Kherson is located in Ukraine
Kherson
Location of Kherson
Coordinates:
Country
Oblast
Municipality
City Rayons
Ukraine
Kherson Oblast
Kherson City
Dneprovski rayon
Suvorovski rayon
Komsomolski rayon
Founded June 18, 1778
Government
 - Mayor
City Council Chairman
City council
City Council Seats
City Rayon Council Chairman
CityRayon council
CityRayon Council
Volodymyr Saldo
Area
 - Total 135.7 km2 (52.4 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 - Total 358,000
 - Density 2,651/km2 (6,866.1/sq mi)
Postal code 73000
Area code(s) +380 552
Sister cities Rzeszów
Website www.city.kherson.ua

Kherson (Ukrainian and Russian: Херсон) is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast (province), and is designated as its own separate raion (district) within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry. The current estimated population is 329,000 (as of 2007).

Contents

History

Until 1774, the region belonged to the Crimean Khanate. Kherson was founded in 1778 by Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin, on the orders of Catherine the Great. The city was built under the supervision of General Ivan Gannibal on the site of a small fortress called Aleksanderschanz. The name Kherson is a contraction of Chersonesos, an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2500 years ago in the southwestern part of Crimea. One of the first buildings in the Kherson Fort was the Church of St. Catherine where Potemkin was eventually buried. The last tarpan was caught near Kherson in 1866.

Demographics

As of Ukrainian National Census (2001), the ethnic groups living within Kherson are:

Population

Year Population
1790 24,000
1926 58,000
1939 97,000
1959 158,000
1981 361,000
2004 354,000
2007 329.000

Administrative divisions

There are three city raions. Two of them still carry mark of a colonial city of Russia.

Education

Main sights

Famous people

External links